Sunday, November 27, 2016

This Thanksgiving week has been great, but it's time to refocus and remember that there are four weeks until Christmas. I have to do work for my TTT courses all the way up to the 23rd and school goes through the 20th. There are only two more weeks of swimming lessons, so my time will be freed up somewhat at that point. Still, it's going to be busy right up until Christmas, but I know I will get through my work and truly be able to enjoy that next break. Speaking of Christmas, any Christmas music that pops up will be included over the next 4 Sunday Shuffles, including today.

So, let's get to today's ten...

1. Satan/Teenage Fanclub (12) - last played on 10/21/16

2. Shoulder To Shoulder/Little Joy (4) - last played on 3/3/13

3. Ruby II/Amy Millan (6) - last played on 11/22/15

4. Nothing To Hide/Yo La Tengo (7) - last played on 7/10/16

5. We're Gonna Make It/Mavis Staples (10) - last played on 2/7/16

6. Old White Lincoln/The Gaslight Anthem (10) - last played on 4/24/15

7. I Guess I Remembered It Wrong/Superchunk (30) - last played on 11/21/16

8. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree/The Smithereens (7) - last played on 12/23/15

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Hard to believe I'm typing this on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. The weather has certainly turned in the past couple days, so it does feel more Thanksgiving-like that way. I'm excited to have the week off from my TTT course and to have only a two day week at school. Some family is already here and more will be arriving. I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday week!

Let's get to today's ten...

1. Rox In The Box/The Decemeberists (18) - last played on 3/13/16
2. Scythian Empires/Andrew Bird (10) - last played on 8/7/16
3. Rock On/T. Rex (11) - last played on 2/7/16
4. The House That Heaven Built/Japandroids (22) - last played on 11/9/16
5. Can You Tell/Ra Ra Riot (4) - last played on 1/11/15
6. Harvey Haddix/The Baseball Project (5) - last played on 2/12/12
7. Rise To Me/The Decemberists (17) - last played on 5/24/15
8. No You're Not/Spoon (17) - last played on 8/13/16
9. Andiamo/The Twilight Singers (5) - last played on 6/30/13
10. My Heartbeat's Dying/The Raveonettes (5) - last played on 12/7/14

Sunday, November 13, 2016

I had a great time at the Sloan show Friday night. They played all of One Chord To Another, took a break, and then came back to play songs from all over the catalog. Chris Murphy has a ton of charisma and led us in clapping and singing along, usually abetted by Patrick Pentland. Patrick had some guitar issues at the start of both sets, but once they were sorted out he ripped off some nifty guitar solos. Jay Ferguson charmingly forgot the lyrics to one of his songs and Andrew Scott was fantastic behind the drum kit. When it was Andrew's turn to sing, he would come up front and put on a guitar, Jay would switch from guitar to bass, and Chris would go from bass to drums. Gregory Macdonald played all the keys and contributed harmonies. The harmonies were stellar throughout and the band sounded great. I've already started listening through their catalog again and seriously thought about doing another Sunday Sloan...but that would be overkill.

So, here are today's ten from my full iTunes catalog...

1. Hot Freaks/Guided By Voices (11) - last played on 5/24/15
2. Frozen Lake/Buffalo Tom (18) - last played on 7/31/16
3. Made Up English Oceans/Drive-By Truckers (9) - last played on 8/28/16
4. Encyclopedia of Classic Takedowns/A.C. Newman (17) - last played on 5/22/16
5. Mountains of Your Head/Buffalo Tom (15) - last played on 1/23/16
6. God, Make Up Your Mind/Cold War Kids (5) - last played on 8/21/16
7. Green River/M. Ward (9) - last played on 8/14/16
8. KV Crimes/Kurt Vile (7) - last played on 7/23/15
9. Shivers Down My Spine/King Khan And The Shrines (6) - last played on 10/19/14
10. 16, Maybe Less//Iron and Wine/Calexico (7) - last played on 4/8/12

Sunday, November 6, 2016

This Friday I will be going to my 5th and final concert of the year and if you read the title of the post, you have already figured out I will be seeing Sloan. The band is touring behind the 20th anniversary of One Chord To Another, their 3rd album. They will play the album in its entirety for the first set and then do a second set featuring songs from the rest of their catalog. I love the band and have never seen them before, so I'm very very excited. Naturally, I've started listening to all of their albums in anticipation, so this dedicated shuffle fits in perfectly. Please listen along via the Spotify link if you don't know this great power pop and rock band. I'll do the usual ten songs unless nothing pops up from OCTA, then I'll continue until we get one. Happy listening!

1. Light Years (24) - from Never Hear The End Of It
2. C'mon C'mon (We're Gonna Get It Started) (16) - from Navy Blues
3. You've Got A Lot On Your Mind (12) - from Commonwealth
4. Unkind (27) - from The Double Cross
5. 400 Metres (19) - from One Chord To Another (Only 10 songs then!)
6. The Life Of A Working Girl (10) - from Pretty Together
7. I Wanna Thank You (20) - from Navy Blues
8. Can't You Figure It Out? (27) - from Never Hear The End Of It
9. You Don't Need Excuses To Be Good (14) - from Commonwealth
10. Seems So Heavy (19) - from Navy Blues

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Good
* The weather has been very nice the past couple of days, which we don't always get this time of year.

* Yesterday started a break week for my current TTT course. In addition, I'm now halfway through the courses I have to take this year before student teaching.

Bad

*The Cubs are down 3-1 in the World Series. They can definitely come back, but the bats need to wake up immediately. I will be watching tonight.

Music

* Let's get to today's ten...

1. Suppose/Buffalo Tom (6) - last played on 2/7/16
2. Slapped Actress/The Hold Steady (10) - last played on 3/12/15
3. Shrinking Violet/Bishop Allen (7) - last played on 9/13/15
4. My My/Reigning Sound (5) - last played on 12/28/15
5. No Dreams/Oakley Hall (5) - last played on 12/21/14
6. Joke or a Lie/Sharon Van Etten (11) - last played on 4/24/15
7. Sunday Sounds/Apples In Stereo (6) - last played on 10/26/14
8. Ghost Under Rocks/Ra Ra Riot (6) - last played on 1/18/15
9. E. Watson/The Decemberists (13) - last played on 10/23/16
10. Astronaut/Luna (7) - last played on 3/1/15

Sunday, October 23, 2016

I can't believe I'm typing up a Sunday Shuffle with the Cubs in the World Series. Last night's clinching game was great, from the outstanding performance by Kyle Hendricks to the way the Cubs hitters went after Clayton Kershaw. I watched when they were 1 game away from the Series in both 1984 and 2003 and saw it all slip away, so last night was even better. I've been a Chicago baseball fan ever since I was a kid and I was never someone who thought you had to love one team and hate the other. 2005 was magical for the White Sox and that playoff run came at a difficult time, as both of my grandmothers passed away that fall. I hope this year is just as magical for the Cubs...and that it only helps me get through my schoolwork this week. Go Cubs!

Musically, I'm still on a high from Friday night's Teenage Fanclub show. They sounded so good and their set list was so strong that I couldn't complain at all. I'm here to tell you that the harmonies you hear on the records are not studio trickery - their voices blend so well. Ray McGinley is a pretty great guitar soloist too. I put up a Spotify playlist that features what they played, so check it out if you're so inclined.

With all that out of the way, let's get to today's ten...

1. Hardcore Ufos/Guided By Voices (9) - last played on 1/24/16
2. Cadillac Ranch (Live)/Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (2) - last played on 1/25/16
3. Common People/Pulp (20) - last played on 7/26/16
4. Rosalie/Alejandro Escovedo (6) - last played on 12/2/12
5. Fake Empire/The National (15) - last played on 4/9/16
6. Gumby/Aimee Mann (18) - last played on 3/16/16
7. Bottom of the World/Tom Waits (7) - last played on 9/27/15
8. In A Radio Song/Okkervil River (5) - last played on 7/14/13
9. Dirty Thing/Telekinesis (24) - last played on 9/20/15
10. Ending of Me/Admiral Radley (9) - last played on 11/18/12